Here´s a quite complete list of the old ECS BIOS files:
https://www.infania.net/misc/moboarchive/Ecs% … bios/index.html
1.4 seems to be the latest one for your VXBE.

The one listed here is capable of using hard drives up to 64 gig: https://web.archive.org/web/20051105011452/ht … ex.php?count=-1

The best BIOS flashing software is the one that works for your application (recognizes the EEPROM and the BIOS file). If Uniflash works, great, but if you need to use Awardflash for some reason you'll want to find an older version of it. There are a few older versions of both Award and AMI flash software here: https://web.archive.org/web/20061020193306fw_ … 2.asp#socket478

Thx!

Sorry, I forgot to write the complete beginning:
Not too long ago, I bought a set of mainboard, CPU, memory, graphics, sound and network card on Ebay. The CPU (6x86 MX PR200) ​​is a bit too new for the board and is only recognized as a MII CPU. I know the problem is only cosmetic, but why wasn't there another BIOS version, whether official or unofficial, to recognize all CPUs up to 233 MHz?

1.4 seems to be the latest one for your VXBE.

Don't be angry, but I can't do anything with the list. How can you tell that BIOS version 1.4 is the last and where is the ECS P5VX-BE listed?

The one listed here is capable of using hard drives up to 64 gig: https://web.archive.org/web/20051105011452/ht … ex.php?count=-1

Yeah thats the one, but it seems to be only a hdd fix.

I haven't done this for a long time, but was there a way to save the old BIOS version?

What happens to my DOS, Win 3.11 and Win95 installation if I flash the BIOS? Does the installation remain intact? Could an additional partition simply be created? The drive letter of the optical drive will certainly only shift again, which will certainly lead to problems.

It´s just a common convention mainboard vendors abide to:. 1.1 follows 1.0, 1.2 follows 1.1... Note they not always start with 1.0. and that there are other alternative ways like alphabetical orders. But here it´s a typical situation

Thank you!
I`m still not sure, if i`ll try this or not.

Demolition-Man wrote on 2023-06-10, 04:16:

The CPU (6x86 MX PR200) ​​is a bit too new for the board and is only recognized as a MII CPU. I know the problem is only cosmetic, but why wasn't there another BIOS version, whether official or unofficial, to recognize all CPUs up to 233 MHz?

Well, Cyrix MII is in fact renamed 6x86MX. It's exactly the same processor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrix_6x86#6x86MX_/_MII
So, no worries 😀

It`s my first Cyix CPU, so the posting of simply "M2" is correct? Not Cyrix 6x86 MX oder something?
What remains is the uncertainty about the data in the bios update. Difficult to create a backup.

Demolition-Man wrote on 2023-06-10, 11:34:

What remains is the uncertainty about the data in the bios update. Difficult to create a backup.

The flash-utility will make a backup of the original BIOS image befor it erases it. It will ask you if you want to choose this option.

Used Uniflash 1.4 again.
CPU is detected as it should be (6x86MX-PR200), HDD Size is correct, S.M.A.R.T. is available.
Win95 wasnt so happy about it, and detected every piece of mainboard hardware again, but everything is still working.
Thank you very much!

Edit: Now i habe error with aweutil in DOS with my CT3670 card, great. (NMI error)
So back to BIOS ver. 1.4?

Hi Demolition-Man,

This BIOS Version 1.5 (11/04/1998) you are using now is a service BIOS from ECS for the P5VX-Be PCB rev 2.0 and 3.0 boards and I have reports that it works well on these board revisions. But it is unknown if it works on the PCB rev 1.0 board as well.
What is your board revision?

This NMI error from aweutil is strange indeed and I have no explanation for that.
Did you try the Sound Blaster in another ISA slot?

If you want to further upgrade this P5VX-Be system, I have used this Ver 1.5 BIOS to make a patched version with 128GiB/137GB HDD support.
This Ver 1.5 patch J.2 BIOS has K6-2+/K6-III+ support and supports the 6.0x multiplier for the K6-2CXT/-III/-2+/-III+ as well for CPU speeds up to 500MHz (6.0x83).
However, due to the lowest Vcore selection of 2.5V on this board, you need a Voltage Regulator Adapter to run the K6-2/-III/plus.

You can download the Ver 1.5 patch J.2 BIOS (VXBE_J2.ZIP) from The Unofficial K6-2+ / K6-III+ page. The link is in my signature.
Scroll down to the second BIOS list with all the patched BIOSes and you will find it at "Elitegroup P5VX-Be".

Jan

Sorry was busy.
Thanks for the detailed answer!

What is your board revision?

3.0

This NMI error from aweutil is strange indeed and I have no explanation for that.

Back to 1,4 and it is working again.

Did you try the Sound Blaster in another ISA slot?

No, there is not enough space elsewhere.

This Ver 1.5 patch J.2 BIOS has K6-2+/K6-III+ support

That is just awesome.

you need a Voltage Regulator

Impossible to find in whole europe. But my K6-III is the AHX version with 2.4V. 2.5V would not be way too much.

At the moment I'm back to 1.4. It's a pity that nobody can fix the NMI bug anymore, otherwise I would be back to version 1.5 immediately. I'll keep that in mind with the other upgrades, anyway thanks for the info.

This NMI error has me intrigued and I have been looking for a possible solution.

As you get this error message with the 1.5 BIOS and not with 1.4, I checked for any differences between these BIOS versions.
One thing I noticed is that the 1.5 BIOS has an “Onboard Audio Chip” option in the BIOS Setup (INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu) that is Enabled by default. The 1.4 BIOS doesn’t have this option.

It is a long shot, but maybe this selection for the optional CS4236/37 on-board Audiochip is interfering with your SB AWE32 card, irrespective if this Audiochip is fitted on your board or not.
So try the 1.5 BIOS again and Disable the Onboard Audio Chip option in the BIOS and see if this solves the NMI error from AWEUTIL.

If this doesn’t work, another solution is to avoid using the Non-Maskable-Interrupt by your AWE32 soundcard altogether. The AWE32 is using the NMI only for its MIDI Emulation under pure DOS. If you can do without General MIDI or MT32 Emulation support in your programs, replace the AWEUTIL /EM:GM or AWEUTIL /EM:MT32 line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT by AWEUTIL /S
This will disable MIDI Emulation under DOS and prevents AWEUTIL to load as a TSR.

An excellent PhilsComputerLab video about the CT3670 card can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cr0XFNls9k
In this video Phil also explains the software setup of this card and has the required software on his website at https://www.philscomputerlab.com/sb-32-ct3670.html

Hope this helps,
Jan

Thx!
I'm pretty sure that was the first option I unchecked. Of course I don't need General MIDI emulation in DOS, it's just a gimmick. Just like the chorus and reverb function, but that's what makes the CT3670 so special. I also had these problems with the 1.4 version, that only worked since I started using a boot manager. I don't know why. Almost forgot: There is a big difference between the bios versions regarding the sound card. The 1.4 version recognizes and initializes(?) the sound card directly, before any boot manager and operating system. SB32 found or something like that, the message can be read in less than half a second. Maybe that has something to do with it. As soon as I presented the system including SB32 gimmicks to a friend, I'll probably switch to version 1.5 permanently.

Tried your mod bios but still the same error. (screenshot)
Onboard Sound is/was disabled. I have no idea, how the BIOS keeps its settings between the updates.

But anyway, thx for your help, and thanks alot for the Tyan S1590S Mod BIOS 😀

Demolition-Man wrote on 2023-06-20, 12:28:

Tried your mod bios but still the same error. (screenshot)
Onboard Sound is/was disabled. I have no idea, how the BIOS keeps its settings between the updates.

But anyway, thx for your help, and thanks alot for the Tyan S1590S Mod BIOS 😀

My modded P5VX-Be patch J.2 BIOS is based on the original v1.5 BIOS core, so it is logical that you get the same Error message about an unhandled NMI. 😉

Clearly, the ECS P5VX-Be board with v1.5 BIOS is incompatible with the General MIDI Emulation on the CT3670 Soundcard under real DOS. I know of other boards, specifically with SiS chipsets, that have the same problem with these AWE32 cards.

However, there is an MFBEN (JP4) jumper on this soundcard to solve this issue. When you open this jumper, you cut the NMI line to the ISA bus and prevent the soundcard of generating any NMI’s. Of course the General MIDI Emulation under DOS doesn’t work anymore, but you can still use all other features of this soundcard without any error message from the BIOS. 😀

I just realized that I have been comparing the v1.5 BIOS with the 08/11/1997 v1.4f BIOS.
You wrote that your original BIOS is a 05/07/1997 v1.4. Can you put the backup copy of this v1.4 BIOS up here, so I can look into that one as well? Thanks!

Jan

You wrote that your original BIOS is a 05/07/1997 v1.4. Can you put the backup copy of this v1.4 BIOS up here, so I can look into that one as well? Thanks!

Sure!
I'm also curious about the differences. Thank you for your efforts.

Thanks for the P5VX-Be v1.4 BIOS!
Curiously, the v1.4 sign-on message shows a 05/07/1997 publication date, while the BIOS-ID has a 03/10/97 compilation date. Normally these dates are the same. 😉

The 03/10/97 compilation date makes this v1.4 BIOS a full 5 months older than the 08/11/97 v1.4f BIOS version. But 5 months doesn’t warrant big BIOS changes so don’t expect any.
This is what I found when comparing v1.4 with v1.4f:

- The HDD support in v1.4f is limited to 8GB, just as in v1.4
- The v1.4f supports the LS-120 and Iomega ZIP drives, v1.4 doesn’t
- The Cyrix M2 indication in v1.4 is changed to Cyrix 6x86MX in v1.4f and PR233 and 266 ratings are added
- Numerous small code improvements in v1.4f associated with the slightly newer code base, but no mayor function changes or bug fixes.

So, as expected no differences to write home about. 😉

The 11/04/1998 v1.5 BIOS however is more than a year younger and is a big improvement, with its fix for the 8GB HDD limit and added CPU support. I agree switching to the (patched) v1.5 BIOS permanently is a good idea!

Were you able to get rid of the NMI error message by removing the JP4 jumper from the soundcard?

Cheers, Jan

Thanks for all your work! At the moment it's too warm to test anything. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something. But what's the point of pulling the jumper? I could also delete aweutil from the autoexec? At the moment I'm back on my version 1.4. Has no real disadvantages. I know myself which CPU is installed, and 8GB of 15 is more than enough storage space. In addition, all aweutil options work. I would be interested to know which games support General MIDI emulation at all. I've only found one that works so far: Colonization.
I will have to accept that the board and sound card are not an ideal combination. But I have 2-3 BIOS versions to choose from and can change that at any time. Thanks again. Kai